Utopia
by Xanthia
Summary: The Doctor, Martha and Captain Jack Harkness are at the end of the universe... NOTE: NOT my storyline! From an actual episode!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **THIS IS NOT MY STORYLINE. Just making that clear! This is an actual episode that I just randomly wanted to put it into words, because I have too much time on my hands! xD

* * *

In the middle of a small village-by-the-sea, a little blue box appeared, seemingly, from nowhere.  
All but one man failed to notice its arrival. Captain Jack sprinted towards the blue box as fast as he could, his heavy pack swaying in time with his footsteps.

************************************************************

"Cardiff!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Cardiff?!" asked an unbelieving Martha.

"Ah," the Doctor countered, "But the thing about Cardiff, it's built on a rift in time and space – just like California and the San Andreas Fault! But the rift bleeds energy. Every now and then I need to open up the engines, soak up the energy and use it as fuel."

Martha watched his hands fly, pressing buttons, pulling handles and keeping an eye on the engines.

"So it's a pit stop?!" she scoffed.

"Exactly," said the Doctor brightly. "Should only take twenty seconds."

Martha hid her smile. Twenty seconds? Yeah, right…

"The rift's been active."

"Wait a minute," Martha said, "They had an earthquake in Cardiff a couple of years ago! Was that you?"

"Bit of trouble with the Slitheen…. Long time ago… lifetimes," his answer was lost as he trailed off.

_Rose…_

"I was a different man back then," he said. In his minds' eye, he watched as himself and Rose had gone up against the Slitheen. But she was gone… they were all gone.

Martha watched his face carefully, as he remembered the pain of being with someone she knew she could never replace.

************************************************************

"DOCTOR!" screamed Captain Jack, sprinting with a renewed determination. Just wait a second, he thought wildly. Don't go _just_ yet!

The TARDIS was just a few meters away from him…

************************************************************

"There we go, all powered up!" the Doctor said, delighted. He saw a flash of movement on a screen. Was that… Captain Jack! Again, the Doctor relieved the terrible time when the Daleks came back, and Rose had risked her life for him…

No, thought the Doctor.

He pulled the lever with grim stoicism. With satisfaction, he watched the engines move as the TARDIS began its flight through space and time…

************************************************************

Captain Jack was past the point of desperation. What was the point of waiting all this time, if he lost the Doctor _now_? He made one final leap as he watched the TARDIS begin to disappear.

************************************************************

Something was wrong.

An explosion sent Martha and the Doctor flying. With some difficulty, Martha and the Doctor crawled up to the control panel. He squinted at the computer screen as it raced through the years.

"What's that?" Martha asked urgently, keeping the panic in her voice down.

The Doctor put his foot up on the control panel in an effort to brace himself, and touched the computer screen. Overhead, there was another explosion.

"We're accelerating!" the Doctor yelled, "Into the future! The year one billion, five billion, five trillion… fifty trillion – what?! The year one hundred trillion – that's impossible!"

Martha heard the definite note of confusion in the Doctor's voice.

"Why?" she asked. "What happens then?"

There was a slight hesitation from the Doctor. "We're going to the end of the universe."

************************************************************

Captain Jack had made it onto the TARDIS just before it disappeared. Clinging on with more strength than he thought he ever had, he felt the vortex of time pressing around him and the TARDIS, as he was pulled to the end of the universe with the Doctor and Martha.

"DOCTOR!"


	2. Chapter 2

There were dozens of brutal-looking creatures, each with pointed, sharp teeth, wild, filthy hair and pale skin. They were sniffing the air and skulking around.

"Humans," one hissed. "Humans are coming!"

************************************************************

It was night. A young man, maybe thirty, was sprinting up a short, rocky hill in a last ditch effort to survive. He looked wildly behind him, but there was nothing.

Then, an ugly creature jumped in front of him and growled, pleased to see that she frightened him.

"Oh, I-I just want–I just want to go, please!" the man pleaded. "Please, let me go!"

"HUMAN!" the creature screamed into the night.

"Human!" She could hear her brethren answer her call. The man made a desperate attempt at fleeing.

"HUMAN!" she screamed again, not wanting him lose him.

"Human!" she heard someone answer her.

A tall almost human-like man with dark hair stood beside the fire, in front of his fellow creatures, mimicking a human's pleas for mercy. He easily got his people pumped up for a kill. He waited until he knew they were ready for the hunt, and walked through the crowd, not caring if they followed.

************************************************************

Deep underground, a radar pinged, showing almost forty green dots on the screen.

An old man with handsome white hair and a neat vest and bow tie turned to look at the radar. Seeing the multiple dots, he instantly knew what was happening outside.

"There's movement on the surface," he told his assistant. "Another human hunt… God, help him."

"Chan, should I alert the guards? Thor," asked his young female assistant.

"No, no," the old man said as he walked to his beaten up armchairs. "We can't spare them. The poor beggar's on his own. One more lost soul, dreaming of Utopia."

"Chan, you mustn't talk as though you've given up, thor," she said, worried.

"Oh, no, indeed," he said, holding up an old tin mug. "Here's to it: Utopia!"

She managed a smile as he emptied his mug.

"Well," he said hopefully, "It is to be hoped the coffee is a little less sour. Will you join me?" He gestured to the chairs and sour coffee beside him.

"Chan, I am happy drinking my own internal milk, thor," she answered politely.

"Yes, well, that's quite enough information, thank you!"

"Professor Yana," crackled a voice through the InCom. "Don't want to rush you, but how are we doing?"

"Ah, yes," answered the old man, slightly flustered. "Ah, y-yes, working, yes, almost there!"

"How's it looking on the footprint?" the voice inquired.

There was a long hesitation before the old man – the professor – could find his voice to answer.

"It's good, yes, fine – excellent! Chantho?"

The professor and his assistant shared an anxious look, and the professor gestured silently for Chantho to answer.

"Chan, there's no problem as such," she said slowly. "We've accelerated the calculation matrix, but it's going to take time to harmonize, thor. Chan, we're trying a new reversal process. We'll have a definite result in approximately two hours, thor..."

Her voice seemed to fade into the background noise as the drum beat started. The professor squeezed his eyes shut against the pounding in his head, as he tried to stay upright. It had been getting louder and louder as the years passed, and each drum beat seemed to block out everything else, so that nothing existed but the noise.

His assistant saw the familiar faraway look in his eyes and hurried around the vast amount of computer equipment to reach him.

"Chan, Professor? Thor," she asked but it seemed he couldn't hear her.

The drumbeat was the only thing that existed, to Professor Yana.

"Chan, professor, thor!" she said suddenly.

It seemed to wake him up, but he looked disorientated.

"Yes," he answered. "Yes, yes, working!"

"Chan, it's the surface scanner, professor. It seems to be detecting a different signal, thor."

He looked over her shoulder at the radar, not quite believing what she said.

"Well that's not a standard reading," he said sharply, "I can't make it out."

The radar kept its pinging as it refreshed itself. There, right on the screen, not too far away from the dozens of dots that were other creatures, was a little, solid square.

"It would seem something new has arrived."

************************************************************

Inside the TARDIS was silence, as it landed.

"Well, we've landed," said the Doctor, looking around uneasily.

"So what's out there?" Martha asked, also looking around.

"I dunno…"

Huh, great, thought Martha. "Say that again? That's rare," she said, attempting a smile.

She noted the puzzled look on his face.

"Not even the Timelords came this far..." He felt something inside him that warned him not to be there. "We should leave. We should really, really... go."

They shared a look between them, and suddenly he broke out into an excited smile. He turned toward the door with Martha smiling behind him.

They took in the huge rocky hills around them as they stepped out into the cold night air. Suddenly, Martha spotted Captain Jack lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious. "Oh my God!" she said, and ran to him. She laid two fingers on his neck.

"I can't get a pulse."

The Doctor walked over to them, frowning.

"Hold on, you've got that medical kit thing," she said, and ran back to the TARDIS. The Doctor simply stood over him and stared. "Hello again," he said quietly to the still body of Captain Jack. Images of the ruthless fight against the Daleks flashed harshly through his mind. "Oh… I'm sorry."

The Doctor looked away as Martha ran out of the TARDIS with her hands full.

"Here we go. Get out of the way!" She pushed the Doctor out of her way in her rush to bring the handsome stranger back to life.

"It's a bit odd though," observed Martha, "Not very hundred-trillion. That coat's more like world war two!"

"I think he came with us," concluded the Doctor.

"How do you mean, from Earth?"

"Must've been clinging to the outside of the TARDIS..." The Doctor shot a quick look back at his ship. "All the way through the vortex – wow, that's very _him_!"

"What, do you know him?" Martha asked in utter disbelief as she listened through a stethoscope.

"A friend of mine. Used to travel with me. Back in the old days…"

"But he's – I'm sorry, but there's no heartbeat." She looked up at the Doctor. "He's dead."

She screamed loudly as the man she just pronounced dead took in a great gasp of air and grabbed at her shoulders.

"It's alright, just breathe deep, I've got you!" She wrapped an arm under his neck as the Doctor resisted rolling his eyes.

"Captain Jack Harkness," he introduced himself in a strong American accent, as soon as he had gotten his breath back. "And _who_ are _you_?"

She blushed as he touched her chin with a finger. "Martha Jones."

"Nice to meet you, Martha Jones," Jack said with a grin.

"Oh, don't start!" the Doctor said impatiently.

"I was only saying hello!" Jack argued.

Martha looked up at the Doctor, unable to stop smiling. "I don't mind…"

The Doctor shot the both of them a 'here-we-go' look which went unnoticed as Martha helped Jack up to his feet.

"Doctor," Jack said, remembering what had happened the last time the two of them had met.

"Captain," said the Doctor

"Good to see you."

"And you," answered the Doctor, "Same as ever-" He raised an eyebrow, "-Although, have you had work done?"

"You can talk!" retorted Jack.

It took the Doctor a second to remember. "Oh yes, the face! Regeneration!"

Martha stared at the Doctor, confused.

"How did you know this was me?"

"Uh, the police box kinda gives it away," Jack said. "I've been following you for a long time. You abandoned me!" he added bitterly.

"Did I?" asked the Doctor without a hint of remorse. "Busy life, moving on."

Martha looked away from the Doctor with an uneasy feeling in her stomach. So he admits to leaving Jack behind? What about her?

"Just gotta ask," Jack said quickly, "The battle at Canary Warf. I saw the list of the dead… it said Rose Tyler."

"Oh, no, sorry!" the Doctor said happily, erasing the awkward sadness that was creeping up on the three of them. "She's alive!"

Martha looked between the two of them, noting how both men changed as soon as the name 'Rose' was mentioned.

"You're kidding!"

"Parallel world! Safe and sound! And Mickey, and her mother!"

"Ah ha, YES!" Jack shouted happily. He wrapped his arms around the Doctor, who hugged tightly back, both happy at the thought that their Rose was alive, safe and sound.

Martha looked down, with a pang of jealousy. "Good old Rose."


	3. Chapter 3

The young man was once again running for his life, only this time, it was from the entire pack. He was deaf to the screams and yells for his blood as he ran.

************************************************************

"So there I was," Jack said as they walked up a gravel road and away from the TARDIS. "Stranded in the year 200100, ankle deep in Dalek dust, and he goes off without me."  
Martha walked with him, listening intently to every word.  
"But I had this!" Jack tapped his wrist and showed Martha something that looked like a wrist watch. "I used to be a Time Agent. It's called a vortex manipulator – he's not the only one who can time travel!"  
"Oh, _excuse_ me!" the Doctor interrupted, "_That_ is not time travel!" Martha and Jack laughed at the Doctor's quick defensive reaction.  
"It's like, I've got a sports car, you've got a space hopper," sniffed the Doctor.  
"Oh," Martha laughed. "Boys and their toys!"  
"Alright, so I bounced!" Jack admitted, shooting the Doctor a dark look. "I thought twenty-first century the best place to find the Doctor, except I got it a little wrong. Arrived in 1869, this thing-" he tapped his vortex manipulator "-burned out, so it was useless."  
"Told you," the Doctor said smugly.  
"I had to look through the entire twentieth century, waiting for a version of you that would coincide with me!"  
"But that makes you more than a hundred years old!" Martha said.  
"And looking good, dontcha think?" Jack managed a small laugh. "So, I went to the time rift, based myself there, coz I knew you'd come back to refuel! Until finally, I got a signal on this detecting you, and here we are!"  
The Doctor walked in front of them, remembering and thinking. He had listened to Jack's story of how he had waited over a hundred years to find him – the Doctor – again, and he felt the guilt weigh him down.  
"But the thing is," Martha piped up, "How come you left him behind, Doctor?"  
The Doctor kept his head up, knowing that Martha had been waiting to ask since Jack had woken up. "I was busy," he said emotionlessly.  
"Is that what happens, though, seriously? Do you just get bored with us one day and disappear?" Martha's stomach was full of butterflies as she tried to be casual.  
"Not if you're blond," Jack said.  
"Oh, she was blond! What a surprise!"  
"You two!" the Doctor said loudly, coming to a stop. He turned to face them – the one he had already abandoned, and the one he would no doubt one day abandon. "We're at the end of the universe, alright? Right at the end of knowledge itself, and you're busy – _blogging?!_"  
Martha looked at him, almost angry at the way he had deflected her question. Jack had the sense to look slightly ashamed.  
"Come on," he said, leading them away.

The unlikely three soon came to the edge of a high cliff. Below them, carved into the cliffs and out of extra dirt and clay, stood a marvelous construction of what appeared to be buildings and pathways built in a similar way to an ant hill.  
"Is that a city?" Martha asked, awestruck.  
"City or a hive," answered the Doctor, "Or a nest… or a conglomeration… Like it was grown… But look there-" he pointed to the pathways that stood in front of the buildings. "-It's like pathways, roads. There must have been some sort of life, long ago."  
"What killed it?" Martha asked softly.  
"Time," said the Doctor sadly, "Just time. Everything's dying now. All the great civilizations have gone. This isn't just night – all the stars have burned out and faded away… into nothing."  
"They must have an atmospheric shell," Jack said logically. "We should be frozen to death."  
"Well, Martha and I, maybe, but I'm not so sure about you, Jack." The Doctor shot an intense look over at Jack, who returned it without an answer.  
"What about the people?" Martha asked. "Does no one survive?"  
"I s'pose," the Doctor answered. "Have to hope life will find a way."  
"Well he's not doing too bad!" Jack said brightly, referring to a young man below them, who was running from dozens of terrifying creatures.  
"Is it me," the Doctor said slowly, "Or does that look like a hunt? Come on!"  
The three of them turned and ran down a shallow gravel slope.  
Jack laughed loudly as they raced to reach the hunted man. "Oh, I miss this!"  
Finally the Doctor and Jack intercepted the desperate man, with Martha not far behind.  
"I've got you!" said Jack, reaching out and steadying the exhausted stranger.  
"They're coming! They're coming! They're coming!" The man wrenched himself out of Jack's arms, tried to run, but was caught by the Doctor. The Doctor turned in time to see Jack pull out a gun and aim it at the oncoming hunting party.  
"Don't you dare!" the Doctor ordered. Jack looked back at the Doctor and instead, aimed his gun high in the air and shot it. The creatures came to an abrupt halt.  
"What the hell are they?!" asked Martha once she caught up.  
"There's more of them! We've got to keep going," the young man said urgently.  
"I've got a ship nearby," the Doctor said calmly, his hands still on the man. "It's safe, it's nearby, it's over th-"  
The Doctor looked over in the direction they had just run from, only to see dozens more creatures appear. "Or, maybe not…"  
"We're close to the silo, if we get to the silo, then we're safe!"  
"Silo?" the Doctor asked.  
"Silo," Jack said immediately.  
"Silo for me," added Martha. With a final look behind her, she set off after Jack, the Doctor and the young man.  
They ran for what felt like a lifetime, until someone shone a huge spotlight on them, and they saw a large gate guarded by a few battle-ready men.  
"It's the future kind!" the man yelled, leading the way. "They're coming! Open the gate!"  
A guard on the other side of the gate ran up to them. "Show me your teeth!" he yelled.  
The four of them stopped once they reached the gate, breathing heavily. "Show him your teeth," urged the young man. Puzzled, Martha, Jack and the Doctor bared their teeth in a bizarre smile.  
"Human!" the guard confirmed. "Let them in, let them in!"  
Behind the bedraggled party, the creatures were still sprinting toward them, desperate to get a bite of human flesh.  
At last, the gates were opened at the four of them squeezed through.  
"Close!" the guards raced to close the gates before the creatures could get through. One guard raised his gun and let out a flurry of bullets, making the gang of creatures dance.  
"Humans!" said one particularly bold creature, taunting them. "Too many! My feast!"  
"Go back to where you came from," said a guard, raising his gun. "I said go back, BACK!"  
"Oh don't tell him to put _his _gun down!" said a sarcastic Jack.  
"He's not my responsibility!" the Doctor said.  
"Oh, and I am? Uh uh, that makes a change…"  
"I see you," the creature said again. "…I'm hungry." Behind him, his fellow hunters made a show of growling, hissing and licking their lips.  
"YAH!"  
The one who spoke beckoned his brothers and sisters to follow him, and they slowly walked back into the darkness, some looking over their backs at the food that was so close and so far away.  
"Thanks for that," the Doctor said to the guard. Martha shot him a quick look, not believing how calm he was.  
"Right, then lets get you inside." A guard led them away  
"My name is Padra," said the young man. "Tell me; just tell me, can you take me to Utopia?"  
"Oh yes, sir!" said the guard, "Yes I can!" And he led them into a wide tunnel.

************************************************************

"Professor," said a voice over the InCom, "We've got four new humans inside. One of them is calling himself a doctor!"  
"Of medicine?" Professor Yana looked up from arranging wires on a board.  
"He says he's of everything," the voice replied.  
"Wha-? Ah, silences! Oh, my word!" The professor became so excited he could barely talk. "Chantho, ju-ju-just, um, er, oh, I don't know! I'm coming!"  
And he rushed out of the room, leaving Chantho alone with the computers.

************************************************************

"It's a box, a big blue box. I'm sorry, but I really need it back. It's stuck out there!"  
"We'll try to get it. I'm certain someone will get it," a guard unsuccessfully tried reassuring the Doctor.  
"Look, I'm sorry," Padra interrupted, "But my family was heading for the silo. Did they get here? My mother's name is Chistane and my brother's name is Bilto!"  
The guard sighed. "The computers are down, but you can check the paperwork. Creet!"  
A young, blond child peeked around a corner. "A passenger needs help," the guard told him.  
"Right," said Creet. "What do you need?"  
The guard turned to leave, had second thoughts, and turned back to the Doctor.  
"A blue box, you say?"  
"Big, tall, wooden… says 'police,'" said the Doctor straight away.  
"We're driving out for our last water collection. I'll see what I can do." The Doctor thanked the guard before he left the room.  
"Come on," Creet said.  
"Sorry, but how old are you?" asked Martha.  
"Old enough to work," Creet answered. "Come on!"  
They followed the young Creet down a narrow corridor that was filled with depressed, dirty and sad people. Creet called out for Padra's family as they moved down the corridor.  
"It's like a refugee camp," Martha remarked.  
"Stinking!" said Jack after he took in a deep breath, and found himself looking into a man's dirty face "Oh, sorry, no offense, not you!"  
"Don't you see, though, the ripe old smell of humans!" the Doctor reminded Jack. "You survived! Oh, might've spent a million years evolving around in clouds of gas, and another million years coming down from those… but you always revert to the same basic shape. The fundamental humans. End of the universe, and here you are. Indominatable, that's the word, indominatable! HA!"  
Their strange group carried on walking down the corridor, past hopeless faces staring up at them. Creet led the way, still calling out for Padra's family. Finally, a woman with long dirty hair and black ragged clothing answered the call.  
"Oh, my God," she said as soon as she saw her son.  
"Mother?" Pedra asked, uncertain. Then he sprinted past the small Creet and into the arms of his mother, where she hugged him fiercely.  
"Well, then, it's not all bad news!" said Martha happily. She watched as Pedra was reunited with his brother and mother, and the three of them hugged each other.  
Jack stopped as a young handsome man stood up and blocked his way. Jack held out his hand. "Captain Jack Harkness, and who are you?"  
The young man shook Jack's hand with a lopsided grin.  
"Stop it," the Doctor warned, examining something with his screwdriver. "Give us a hand with this."  
Martha followed Jack with a bemused expression on her face. It was soon replaced with fright, however, as the Doctor opened a door and almost stepped into thin air.  
"Gotcha!" said Jack, holding the Doctor fast.  
"Thanks."  
"How did you cope without me?" The Doctor answered with a dry laugh.  
"Now _that_," said Martha, peering into the space where the Doctor had almost fallen, "Is what I call a _rocket!_"  
The rocket, made from mismatched pieces of scrap metal, loomed far above them. Small bridges connected the rocked to the tunnel they were standing in.  
"They're not refugees," said the Doctor in a calculating voice, "They're passengers."  
"He said they were going to Utopia," Martha said, looking at the Doctor.  
"The perfect place. A hundred trillion years, it's the same old dream," he answered. "Do you recognize those engines?"  
"Nope," said Jack. "Whatever it is, it's not rocket science. But it's hot though."  
"Boiling," agreed the Doctor.  
They all took one last look at the huge rocket before pulling themselves back through the door.


	4. Chapter 4

**Gravatismal accelerator?? Don't ask... but that's what it sounded like, but it COULD be gravational accelerator! I have no clue... I'm doing my best. I'm doing this by t.v, so things may not be 100% accurate!**

* * *

"But if the universe is falling apart, what does 'Utopia' mean?" the Doctor asked rhetorically. An old man hurried to their group with a broad, excited grin on his face.  
"The Doctor?" he asked Jack.  
"No, that's me."  
"Oh, Good! Good!" The old man took the Doctor's hand and dragged him down the hall.  
The Doctor looked back with a grin. "It's good, apparently!"

************************************************************

In the shadows of the narrow corridor, a dark haired man watched them pass by. He growled quietly, revealing two rows of dirty, pointed teeth.

************************************************************

Chantho welcomed the newcomers into their computer-stuffed workroom, as excited as her master.  
"This is the gravatisimal accelerator," Professor Yana told the Doctor.  
Chantho bowed slightly to Martha and Jack as Professor Yana gave the Doctor a grand tour.  
"Uh, hello," said Martha, taking in Chantho's blue skin and insect-like head and face. "And, who are you?"  
"Chan, Chantho, thor."  
"Captain Jack Harkness," said Jack, extending his hand.  
"Stop it," warned the Doctor, briefly pausing from examining a complicated piece of equipment.  
"Can't I say hello to anyone?" protested Jack with a raised brow.  
"Chan, I do not protest, thor," said Chantho with an embarrassed smile.  
"Maybe later, Blue," Jack said with a wink that made her shiver. "So what have we got here?"  
"…And all this feeds into the rocket?" the Doctor asked Professor Yana.  
"Yeah, except without a stable footprint, you see, it would never achieve escape velocity. If only we could _harmonize_ the five impact patterns and unify them, we might yet make it… what do you think, Doctor? Any ideas?"  
The Doctor took a breath, thinking. "Well, basically, sort of… Not a clue."  
"Nothing?"  
"I'm not from around these parts; I've never seen a system like it. Sorry," he added.  
Professor Yana's face fell. "No, no, I'm sorry. There's been so little help-"  
Across the room beside Professor Yana's old armchairs, Martha pulled something out of Jack's pack.  
"Oh. My. God," she said loudly. "You've got a hand?! A hand in a jar?!"  
Her fingers shook as she pointed at it, while the Doctor examined it with a curious look on his face.  
"A hand! In a jar! In your bag!"  
"Well th-th-that's _my_ hand!" the Doctor stuttered, slightly bewildered.  
"I said I had a Doctor detector," answered Jack.  
"Chan, is this a tradition amongst your people? Thor," asked Chantho, who was struggling to understand the new strangers.  
"Not on my street!" Martha answered. "What do you mean 'that's _your_ hand?' You've got both your hands; I can see them!"  
"Long story," said the Doctor. "I lost my hand. Christmas Day; lost it in a sword fight."  
In the Doctors mind, he replayed the brutal sword fight with the Sycorax, and he watched as the Sycorax cut his hand off with a large sword.  
"What, and you grew another hand?" Martha asked sarcastically.  
"Um, yeah, I did, yeah." He waved his hand. "Hello."  
Her smile vanished.  
"Might I ask, what species are you?" Professor Yana asked curiously.  
"Timelord," the Doctor answered, looking up at the Professor. "The last of them. Heard of them? Legend, or anything?"  
Chanthor and Professor Yana shook their heads.  
"Not even a myth? Blimey, the end of the universe is a bit humbling."  
"Chan, it is said that I am the last of my species, too, thor," said Chantho.  
"Sorry, what was your name?" asked the Doctor.  
"My assistant – and good friend – Chantho," answered the Professor. "A survivor of the Malnoids. This was their planet, Malcassairo, before we took refuge."  
"The city outside we saw, that was yours?" the Doctor asked.  
"Chan, the conglomeration died, though, thor."  
"Conglomeration! That's what I said!"  
"You're supposed to say 'sorry,'" Jack told the Doctor.  
"Oh, yes." The Doctor's face turned serious. "Sorry."  
"Chan, most grateful, thor."  
"You grew… another hand…" Martha said.  
"Hello again," the Doctor said, waving his hand. Martha had a slightly disgusted look on her face. "It's fine. Look, really, it's me."  
He offered his hand for her to shake, wiggling his fingers. She slowly reached out and shook it.  
"All this time, and you're still full of surprises," she said, to which he replied with an amused wink.  
"Chan, you are most unusual, thor."  
"Well…" the Doctor smiled wildly, enjoying the attention.  
"So what about those things outside, those beastie boys?" Jack interrupted.  
"Well, we call them the Futurekind, which is a myth in itself," explained the Professor. "But it's feared they are what we will become. Unless we reach Utopia."  
"And Utopia is…?" asked the Doctor.  
"Oh, every human knows of Utopia! Where've you been?"  
"Bit of a hermit," he answered.  
"Oh, a hermit… with friends?" asked the Professor.  
"Hermits' United," said the Doctor, "We meet up every ten years. Swap stories about caves… It's good fun, for a hermit. So, um, Utopia?"  
The Professor looked at him, and took him to a computer. On the screen, a red dot flickered against a blue map of the universe.  
"The call came from across the stars," began the Professor, "Over and over again. 'Come to Utopia.' Originating from that point." He pointed to the red dot on the screen.  
"Where is that?" asked the Doctor, intrigued.  
"Oh it's far beyond the condensed wilderness. Out towards the wild lands, and the dark matted reefs, calling us in: the last of the humans, scattered across the night."  
"What do you think's out there?"  
"We don't know. A colony; a city; some sort of haven. The science foundation created the 'Utopia Project' thousands of years ago to preserve mankind; to find a way of surviving beyond the collapse of reality itself. And perhaps they found it, or perhaps not. But it's worth a look, don't you think?"  
The Doctor smiled. "Oh, yes."  
As the Doctor began talking, the drum beats began. Slightly louder than they were before, they drowned out the Doctor's voice. Professor Yana breathed deeply, trying to keep the noise at bay.  
He squeezed his eyes shut to keep the pain of the beats down to a minimum.  
"Professor?" the Doctor asked. "Professor!"  
"Right, that's enough talk; there's work to do. Now if you could leave, thank you!" the Professor said quickly. He walked away from everyone and stood alone, in the midst of his computers.  
"You alright?" asked the Doctor, who of course noticed something was wrong with the Professor.  
"Yes, I'm fine! I'm busy  
"Except," said the Doctor, "That rocket's not going to fly, is it?" Professor Yana froze. The Doctor's voice became slightly quieter – sadder, almost. "This footprint mechanism thing, it's not working."  
"We'll find a way!" Professor Yana argued loudly. The Doctor looked at him; his eyes full of sadness.  
"You're stuck on this planet! And, you haven't told them, have you? That lot out there, they still think they're going to fly."  
"Well, it's better to let them live in hope," the Professor told them. He had known his engines weren't going to work, and letting his people live in false hope was the only good thing that could come from all the disasters they had all faced.  
"Quite right, too!" the Doctor agreed loudly. Professor Yana looked up, unable to believe his own ears. "And, I must say, professor – what was it?" He handed his coat to Jack, who took it, watching as the Doctors' mood spontaneously changed.  
"Yana."  
"Professor Yana. This new science is well beyond me, but all the same, a boost reversal circuit – in any time frame – must be a circuit which reverses the boost. So, I wonder what would happen-" he pulled out his screwdriver, aimed it at something in Professor Yana's hands, and pressed the button "-if I did this."  
The results were almost immediate: information on the computers changed; sirens blared and lights began flashing.  
"Chan, it's working! Thor."  
"But, how did you _do_ that?" the Professor asked, astounding.  
"Oh, while we've been chatting away, I forgot to tell you: I'm brilliant!"


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't have anything to do with Doctor Who, but I WILL one day marry David Tennant! Does that count?**

**Geeze, I dont even own this story line... TOTAL transcribing!**

* * *

"_ALL PASSENGERS PREPARE FOR IMMEDIATE BORDING! I REPEAT: ALL PASSENGERS PREPARE FOR IMMEDIATE BORDING!"  
_At once, the people who filled the corridors began packing their belongings hastily and filed down to the walkways of the rocket.

************************************************************

The Doctor danced around the room giving directions and making changes and calculations.

************************************************************

Down in the control room, men turned knobs and pressed buttons, ready for the long awaited launch; outside, those who went out for the last water collection returned, with the Doctor's precious TARDIS.

Outside the tightly locked gates, the Futurekind watched as the humans rushed around chaotically. They watched closely, waiting…

************************************************************

"'Scuse me," said Martha apologetically as she fought her way through the crowd of people, following behind Chantho. A blur of blond-ness flashed in front of her.  
"Hey!" she said happily. "What was your name – Creet?"  
"That's right, miss."  
"Who are you with, Creet? You got family?"  
"No, miss, there's just me."  
"Oh, well good luck. What do you think it's going to be like? In Utopia?"  
"My mum used to say the skies are made of diamonds!"  
Martha smiled. "Good for her! Go on, off you go! Go and get your seat!"  
Creet scampered off towards the rocket eagerly, while Martha and Chantho carried on their way.

************************************************************

The Doctor held a cable up to his nose and sniffed it. "Is that…?"  
"Gluten extract," Professor Yana said. "It binds all that together."  
"That's food! You built this system out of food and string and staples! Professor Yana, you're a genius!"  
"Yes, says the man who made it work."  
"Oh, it's easy to come in at the end," the Doctor said modestly. "But, you're steller! This is – this is magnificent! And I don't often say that, because, well, because I'm me…"  
"Well, even my title is an affectation. There hasn't been such a thing as a university for over a thousand years! I've spent my life going from one refugee ship to another."  
"If you had been born in a different time, you'd be revered!" At this, Professor Yana laughed.  
"I mean it," said the Doctor, "Throughout the galaxies!"  
"Oh, all those damn galaxies!" the professor grumbled. "They had to go and collapse! Some admiration would've been nice. Just a little, just once..."  
"Well, you got it now." The Doctor looked up at the Professor with a serious expression. "But that footprint engine thing – you can't activate it onboard. You're staying behind."  
"With Chantho. She won't leave without me, she refuses."  
"You would give your life so that they could fly?"  
"I think I'm a little too old for Utopia," Professor Yana said quietly. "Time I had some sleep."  
"_Professor,"_ the InCom voice crackled, _"Tell the Doctor we found his blue box!"  
_The Doctor broke out into a wide grin.  
"Doctor?" Jack called, pointing to a screen. On it, through a live video feed, was the Doctor's all too familiar TARDIS.  
"Professor," the Doctor said happily, "It's a wild stab in the dark, but I think I might've found you a way out!"  
As soon as Professor Yana looked at the blue police box, the drums began beating again…  
As soon as it could have been managed, the TARDIS was brought to the Doctor and left in the computer room. Down under the floorboards of the TARDS, the Doctor clambered up, dragging a power cord with him.  
"Extra power!" He said happily stepping out of the TARDIS with long, think power cords trailing behind. "Bit of cheat, but who's counting? Jack, you're in charge of the retro feeds!"  
Martha walked in, followed by Chantho, both with their arms full of equipment. "Oh, am I glad to see that thing!" she said.  
Chantho noticed the faraway look in the Professor's face. "Chan, Professor, are you alright? Thor."  
He seemed to snap out of his trance. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine, just get on with it!" he snapped.  
"Connect those circuits into the spot, the same as the last lot," Jack ordered Martha. "But quicker!" Martha bit down a retort and did as he said.  
The Doctor approached Professor Yana. "You don't have to keep working, we can handle it."  
"It's just a headache. It's just a noise inside my head, Doctor, constant noise inside my head..."  
"What sort of noise?"  
"The sound of drums – more and more, as though it's getting closer!"  
The Doctor frowned, curious. "When did it start?"  
"Oh, I've had it all my life, every waking hour. Still," the Professor seemed to brighten up. "No rest for the wicked."  
The Doctor managed a small smile as Professor Yana stood up to finish the work that was his life.

"So," Martha asked, as she and Chantho arranged circuits. "How long have you been with the Professor?"  
"Chan, seventeen years, thor."  
"Blimey, a long time!"  
"Chan, I adore him, thor."  
"Oh, right," Martha said, understanding Chantho at once. "And he…?"  
"Chan, I don't think he even notices me, thor."  
"Tell me about it." Martha's thoughts immediately went to the Doctor.  
"Chan, but I am happy to serve, thor."  
"Do you mind if I ask – do you have to start every sentence with 'chan?'"  
"Chan, yes, thor."  
"And end every sentence with-"  
"Chan, thor, thor."  
"What would happen if you didn't?"  
"Chan, well that would be rude! Thor," Chantho said, shocked.  
"What, like swearing?"  
Chantho stole a glance at Professor Yana, as though he would be mad if he found out what they were talking about. "Chan, indeed, thor."  
"Oh, go on, just once," Martha said. Chantho let out a girlish giggle.  
"Chan, I can't! Thor."  
"Do it for me."  
"N-no!"  
And she let out another girlish giggle.

************************************************************

Down in a separate room, Lieutenant Atillo tried to connect to the Professor through a video feed.  
"Professor!" Nothing. "Systems are down…"  
He tapped a few keys: Y-A-N-A.  
"Professor," he tried again "Are you getting me?"  
The computer fuzzed with static for a second, before forming to reveal Professor Yana. "I'm here, we're ready!" the Professor answered impatiently. "Now all you need to do is connect the couplings, then we can launch!" Professor Yana cursed as Atillo's face went blurry on the screen. "God save us, this equipment! Needs rebooting all the time!"  
"Anything I can do?" Martha asked over his shoulder. "I've finished with that lot."  
"Yes, if you could," said the Professor, relieved. "Just press the 'reboot' key every time the picture goes."  
Martha sat in the Professor's chair. "Certainly, sir! Just, don't ask me to do shorthand."  
Professor laughed.  
Atillo's face came back on the screen. "Are you still there?" he asked.  
"Ah, present and correct," Professor Yana answered quickly. "Send your man inside. We'll keep the levels down from here."  
Atillo answered with a brisk nod, and went out of the picture to help his man suit up. Martha's computer screen snapped to a red room full of half a dozen tall metal tanks.  
Atillo opened a heavy door, and a man walked through the door and into the red room, dressed in a heavy suit.  
"He's inside," Atillo confirmed. Professor Yana walked over to a different machine.  
"Keep the dials below the red," he told Jack and Chantho, who nodded.  
"Where is that room?" asked the Doctor.  
"Under the rocket," Professor Yana replied. "Fix the couplings and the footprint can work! But, the entire chamber is flooded with stet radiation."  
"Stet? Never heard of it."  
"No, you wouldn't want to. But it's safe enough if we can hold the radiation back from here."  
The Doctor and Professor Yana joined Martha at the computer, watching the man in the heavy suit move through the irradiated room.

************************************************************

The man walked over to a tank, sweating heavily. A keypad at the top of the tank beeped quietly as he punched in a code, and the keypad hissed as it released a small airlock. Still moving slowly, he gently lifted the keypad; underneath, was a black handle. He slowly twisted the black handle, which was connected to a fluorescent green tube, and he pulled it up. Atillo watched tensely from behind the safety of the door, as the first metal coupling was connected.

************************************************************

In the now-deserted corridor, a figured moved quickly, looking at the walls. Finally, she found what she was looking for – a box with a sign that read 'biohazard.' Without hesitation, she opened the box, pulled at wires and pushed buttons.

************************************************************

Sirens blared as the systems went haywire.  
"Chan, we're losing power, thor," Chantho said urgently.

************************************************************

Her dirty fingers scrabbled at another power box near the one she had just destroyed. When she quickly realized that her hands couldn't open the box, she spotted a large slab of wood. Hefting it over her shoulder, she threw it at the wall, causing sparks to fly, as the wood hit its target.

************************************************************

"Radiation's rising!" the Doctor informed the room over the loud alarm bells going off. Jack raced to the opposite side of the room. "We've lost control!" he shouted back.  
"The chamber's going to flood," the Professor them.  
"Jack! Override the vents!"

************************************************************

In the radiation room, the young man could feel the change in the air. Inside his suit, it grew hotter, and the sweat that poured down his face wasn't just from nerves. Lights flashed and a loud siren went off.  
"Get out!" Atillo yelled. "Get out of there, Jake!"  
The man looked up at Atillo's horrified face, and pointedly ignored him. Moving sluggishly from heat, he punched in the numbers of the next keypad.

************************************************************

Two guards armed with automatic weapons raced down some metal steps.  
One of them spotted the creature in front of the damaged power boxes. "Oi, you!" he yelled. "Stop!"  
The creature turned and bared its ugly teeth. At once, the two men raised their guns and simultaneously fired.

************************************************************

Jack desperately grabbed the ends of two open wires. "We can jump start the override!" he shouted, before putting the ends together. He screamed in pain, as thousands of volts of electricity rushed through his body, and he collapsed to the ground, unmoving.  
The Doctor yelled out, and Martha and Professor Yana watched in sheer horror as they saw Jack collapse.

************************************************************

The man was determined to finish what he started. Feeling the heat rising, he continued to tap the key pad.  
"Jake!" Atillo yelled, "Get out of there!"  
Jake only had a glimpse of Atillo's face, before he burned inside the radiation suit.


	6. Chapter 6

Martha raced over to Jack's limp body and cleared his airway.  
"Chan, don't touch the cables! Thor," Chantho warned and she pushed a sparking cable away from Jack's leg. Martha began CPR on Jack.  
"I'm so sorry," said the Professor, sadly.  
The Doctor regarded Jack's unconscious form darkly. "The chamber's flooded with radiation, yes?"  
"Without the couplings, the engines will never start," Professor said, defeated. "It was all for nothing!"  
"Oh, I don't know," the Doctor said easily. "Martha, leave him."  
He pulled her away from Jack.  
"You've got to let me try!" she said, almost crying.  
"Come on, come on," he said soothingly, "Just listen to me. Now, leave him alone." He gave her a stern and understanding look. "It strikes me, Professor, that you've got a room which no man can enter without dying. Is that correct?"  
"Yes," said the Professor with an impatient nod.  
"Well-"  
The Doctor was interrupted by a loud, dramatic gasp from Jack, as he regained consciousness.  
"-I think I've got just the man."  
Professor Yana shot an unbelieving look at Jack as he caught his breath back.  
"Was someone kissing me?" Jack asked the room.

Almost immediately after he woke up, Jack and the Doctor raced down to the room underneath the rocket.  
"Stop it!" the Doctor yelled before they had even entered the room. Atillo turned in his seat.  
"The chamber's flooded-"  
"Trust me," the Doctor said calmly, interrupting Atillo. "Trust me, we've found a way of tripping the system. RUN!"  
Atillo gave the Doctor one last look before he stepped out of the room. The Doctor examined a panel of dials, until he noticed Jack taking off his  
shirt.  
"Whoa, whoa, why are you taking your clothes off for?"  
"I'm going in!" said Jack, taking his suspenders off his shoulders.  
"But, by the looks of it, I'd say stet radiation doesn't affect clothing, only flesh."  
"Well, I look good though!"  
The Doctor refrained from rolling his eyes at Jack's ego, and examined the dials once more.  
Jack reached the door to the chamber, and hesitated. "How long have you known?"  
"Ever since I ran away from you," the Doctor said, fixing a look upon Jack. They looked intensely at each other for a second. "Good luck."  
Jack wrenched the door open and went inside the chamber, burning his hand on the wall.

************************************************************

The computer was down again. Martha tried the reboot key for the umpteenth time.  
"We lost picture when that thing flared up," she told Chantho. "Doctor, are you there?"  
"Receiving, yeah, he's inside," came the Doctor's reply.  
"He's still alive," Martha said triumphantly.  
"He should evapourate!" Professor Yana said in complete disbelief. "What sort of a man _is_ he?"  
"I've only just met him," Martha answered. "The Doctor sort of travels through time and space and picks people up-" she looked up at the ceiling, "-God, I make us sound like stray dogs; maybe we are."  
"He… travels in time?" Professor Yana asked in a distant voice. In his head, he heard voices whispering: _Time, time, time…  
_But neither Chantho or Martha noticed the change in his behaviour.  
"Don't ask me to explain it," she said, and pointed over her shoulder. "That's a TARDIS, that box thing. The sports car of time travel, he says…"  
Professor Yana walked to the TARDIS and stood in front of the open doors, listening to the voices and the drums.  
_That's a TARDIS, that's a TARDIS…_ the voices echoed.

************************************************************

"When did you realize?" the Doctor asked Jack.  
"Perth, 1892," replied Jack, casually keying in the code and opening the third metal tube. "Got in a fight at Ellis Island; man shot me through the heart, and then I woke up. Thought it was kinda strange, but then it never stopped. Fell off a cliff; trampled by horses; World War I, World War II; poison; starvation; stray javelin-"  
"Ooh…"  
"-In the end, I got the message: I'm the man who can never die!" He pulled up a glowing green tube. "And all that time, you knew."  
"That's why I left you behind. It's not easy – just looking at you Jack, cuz you're wrong!"  
"Thanks."  
"You are! I can't help it. I'm a Timelord, it's instinct, it's in my _gut._ You're a fixed point in time and space – you're a fact! That's never meant to happen… Even the TARDIS reacted against you, tried to shake you off. Flew all the way to the end of the universe to get rid of you!"  
"So what you're saying," said Jack, struggling to make the couplings connect, "Is that you're prejudiced?"  
"I never thought about that," said the Doctor, allowing himself a smile.  
Jack laughed. "Shame on you!"  
"Yep," the Doctor said lazily, rubbing his eye.

************************************************************

"_The last thing I remember – back when I was mortal – I was facing three Daleks-"  
_Martha and Chantho listened to the conversation between Jack and the Doctor with increasing intensity. Behind them, Professor Yana stood in front of the TARDIS, staring at it.  
_Daleks…Daleks…Daleks_ the voices whispered.

************************************************************

Jack wrapped his hand around the handle of the fourth green tube and pulled.  
"What happened?"  
"Rose," the Doctor said simply.

************************************************************

There was her name again! Martha's neck twitched as soon as the Doctor mentioned Rose. She stared unhappily at the computer, willing the Doctor to notice _her_, and not a girl who was long gone…  
"_I thought you'd sent her back home?" _Jack asked.  
"_She came back. Opened the heart of the TARDIS and absorbed the time vortex itself."  
_"_What does that mean, exactly?"  
_"_No one's ever meant to have that power." _Professor Yana stared at the TARDIS, listening and imagining…

************************************************************

"If a Timelord did that, he'd become a god – a vengeful god. But, she was human."  
The sight of Rose, his beautiful Rose, with the time vortex spilling out of her eyes haunted the Doctor again. The tears she spilled.  
_I bring life_, she'd said to him. And it was that moment that the Doctor knew Jack was alive and not normal. He could _see_ it…

************************************************************

"_Everything she did was so human,"_ he continued. This made Martha smile, despite everything that was happening. "_She_ _brought you back to life."_

************************************************************

Jack stared at the Doctor, listening and concentrating.  
"But she couldn't control it; she brought you back forever. Ah, it's something, I 'spose… the final act of the Time War was life."

************************************************************

"_Do you think she could change me back?"  
_Inside Professor Yana's head, the wheels were turning. It was like someone shone a light in all the dark places of his mind…  
"_I took the power out of her."_

************************************************************

"She's gone, Jack," he said calmly. Jack looked up, knowing how much she meant to the Doctor, and how much the Doctor must have been hurting to talk about her. "She's not just living on a parallel world; she's trapped there."

************************************************************

Martha listened, feeling bad for the Doctor. But she couldn't help but wonder, trapped on a parallel world? Was that kind of thing the fate for all those that travelled with the Doctor?

************************************************************

"The walls have closed."  
"I'm sorry," Jack told him, and he meant it. The Doctor looked away, feeling the hurt and pain as fresh as ever.  
"I went back to her state, in the nineties, just once or twice. Watched her growing up. Never said hello – timelines and all that." He struggled with the fifth tube, which was stuck fast.  
"Do you want to die?" the Doctor asked suddenly.  
"This one's a little stuck," Jack panted.  
"Jack."  
"I thought I did. I don't know. But this lot – you see them out here, surviving-" the Doctor grinned, glad that Jack understood, "-and that's _fantastic!"  
_For a moment, Jack thought he almost sounded like the Doctor himself.  
There was a loud, audible _thunk_, as the coupling finally connected.  
"You might be out there, somewhere," remarked the Doctor.  
"I could go and meet myself."  
"Well… he's the only man you're going to be happy with."  
Jack laughed as he twisted the last handle and pulled. "This new regeneration, it's kinda cheeky!"

__

************************************************************

_Regeneration… regeneration…  
_Professor Yana gave a nervous twitch.  
"I never understand half the things he's saying," said Martha. She turned to look at the Professor. "What's wrong?"  
"Chan, professor what is it? Thor."  
"This… time travel," he said slowly. "They say there was time travel back in the old days. I never believed it! But what would I know? Stupid old man… never could keep time. Always late, always lost. Even this thing never worked."  
He took a round pocket watch from his pocket.  
Martha recognized it instantly.  
_Martha, this watch, this is me… I'm going to become human. _The Doctor had done it once. He had put his consciousness into a watch that looked _exactly _like the watch Professor Yana was holding.  
Her heart raced.  
"Time and time and time again… Always running out on me."  
"Can I have a look at that?" she asked quickly.  
"Oh, it's only an old relic," he laughed. "Like me!"  
"Where did you get it?"  
"I was _found _with it."  
"What do you mean?"  
"An orphan in the storm. I was a naked child, found on the coast of the Silver Devastation… abandoned, with only this."  
"Have you ever opened it?" she asked, trying to sound casual.  
"Why would I? It's broken."  
"How do you know it's broken if you've never opened it?"  
"It's stuck! It's old, it's not meant to be! I don't know."  
He reached out and handed the watch to her, and she carefully turned it over in his hands, fearing what was on the other side. Her heart beat faster and she let out a strangled breath. There it was: the round circles; the planets; the universe.  
He watched her face carefully. "Does it matter?"  
"No, its-its nothing. Listen, everything's fine up here; I'm going to see if the Doctor needs me!"  
Chantho watched their exchange carefully, sensing something uneasy going on between them.


	7. Chapter 7

"Lieutenant, everyone ready on board?" the Doctor asked urgently through a very 19th century telephone.  
"Ready and waiting," came the reply.  
"Stand by! Two minutes to ignition!"  
The Doctor slammed the phone down and began checking the dials and systems for the launch when Martha came through the door.  
"Ah! Nearly there," the Doctor told her, "The footprint – it's a gravity pulse! It stands down, the rocket shoots up! Bit primitive, but the thing about it, just got to keep it stable."  
Something on a wall panel beeped urgently, and Martha and the Doctor ran over to it.  
"Doctor," she began, "It's the Professor. He's got this watch, this fob watch. It's the same as yours, same writing on it; same – everything."  
The Doctor looked at her sharply.  
"Don't be ridiculous," he said quietly.  
"I asked him. He said he's had it his whole life."  
"So, he's got the same watch!" Jack said, not understanding the significance.  
"Yeah, but it's not a watch," Martha told him. "It's this chameleon thing."  
"No, no, no, it's this thing, this device. It rewrites biology!" the Doctor told him impatiently; his mind raced. "Changes a Timelord into a human."  
Jack stopped what he was doing and stared at the Doctor.  
"And it's the same watch!" Martha said. She remembered the Doctor's own watch when he had changed into a human. She had kept it safe for months – she knew it like the back of her own hand, and she was absolutely certain that Professor Yana's watch was the exact same as the Doctor's.  
"Can't be!" the Doctor said. Another siren blared.  
"That means he could be a Timelord!" Jack shouted. "You might not be the last one!"  
"Jack, keep it level!"  
"But, that's brilliant, isn't it?" asked Martha, not understanding why the Doctor was panicking.  
"It is, course it is! But which one? Brilliant, fantastic – yeah! But they _died_, the Timelords. All of them – they died!"  
"Not if he was human," Jack countered.  
"What did he say, Martha?" the Doctor asked. "WHAT DID HE SAY?"  
She visibly flinched and suddenly understood why so many creatures were afraid of the Doctor's wrath. His eyes were angry and – afraid?|  
"He looked at the watch, like he could hardly see it," she said quickly. "Like that perception filter-thing."  
"What about now? Can he see it now?"

************************************************************

Professor Yana continued staring at his watch while voices and drumbeats filled his mind.  
_The TARDIS…the time vortex… maniacal laughter...  
__Regeneration… the drums, the drums, the drums, the never ending drum beat. Open me. Open the light and summon me; I receive my badge of state!  
_…_Destroy him, and you will give your power to me!  
_The professor walked to the Doctor's hand and stared at it, deep in thought.  
"Chan, Yana. Won't you please take some rest? Thor," asked Chantho, afraid of the state he was in.

************************************************************

"…_eleven, ten, nine, eight…" _the countdown, heard throughout the entire station, continued calmly, despite Jack and the Doctor rushing around, trying to keep the rocket stable.  
"If he escaped the Time War, then it's the perfect place to hide!" Jack said, excitement in his voice. "The end of the universe!"  
"Think what the Face of Boe said," Martha reminded the Doctor. "His dying words. He said-"  
The Doctor turned a key in the wall, and Martha screamed as a blinding white light flooded the tiny control room.  
The rocket was away, full of people, on its way to Utopia.

************************************************************

Chantho felt the room shake and knew the rocket was away. She smiled as she realized their dreams had come true.  
Professor Yana stood in front of the TARDIS, with the watch in his hand. Slowly, he raised it, and opened it…  
Chantho squinted as suddenly the room light up with a bright light.

************************************************************

The Doctor stared into the light from the rocket's lit-up fuel. The light was bright on his face, making him look pale. He remember the Face of Boe's last words, and suddenly everything clicked together.  
"You… are… not… alone…" the Face of Boe had said.  
Y-A-N-A.  
He looked at the computer screen that had shown the Professor's face just minutes before.  
Y-A-N-A.  
No, it couldn't be…

************************************************************

The Futurekind gathered around the base and watched the rocket depart; its trail was the only thing that lit up the sky.  
They growled in anger as the only source of their food disappeared into the unknown.

************************************************************

"Chan, Professor Yana, thor." She approached him slowly, and he turned to look at her with dark – almost black – eyes.  
Eyes that weren't his.

************************************************************

"Lieutenant, have you done it? Did you get velocity?!" Static answered the Doctor.  
"Have you done it?!" he screamed desperately. "LIEUTENANT, HAVE YOU DONE IT?!"  
"Affirmative," Lieutenant Atillo finally answered. The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief. "Well see you in Utopia!"  
"Good luck," the Doctor said, and hung up. Without a word, he turned and raced back to the Professor and the TARDIS. Jack hastily grabbed his jacket and followed Martha, as she ran to follow the Doctor.  
Just as he reached the door out of the control room, it slammed shut in the Doctor's face.

************************************************************

"Chan, but you've locked them in, thor," said Chantho, a hint of fear in her voice.

************************************************************

"GET IT OPEN!" screamed the Doctor. He took his sonic screwdriver and desperately aimed it at the edges of the door. "GET IT OPEN!"  
Jack opened a small panel in the wall and began tinkering with the door's electric controls.

************************************************************

"Not to worry, my dear," Professor Yana told Chantho calmly. "As one door closes, another must open." He pulled a lever.

************************************************************

Outside the base, the lights that flooded the area suddenly went out. The Futurekind growled and snarled in anticipation, and began to charge toward the base.

************************************************************

"Chan, you must stop, thor," Chantho pleaded, almost in tears.  
The Professor ignored her and began pressing more buttons. The lights in the room dimmed and went out.  
"Chan, but you'll blow out the defenses! The Futurekind will get in! Thor."

************************************************************

The Futurekind burst through the once heavily armed gates and stormed through.

************************************************************

At last the door opened for the Doctor. He raced through without hesitation.

************************************************************

"Chan, Professor," Chantho said softly. "I'm so sorry, but I must stop you-" Professor Yana let out a short laugh and turned around. He did a double take when he realized what was in her hand. "-you're destroying all our work, thor."  
She held up a small gun in her trembling hands, trying to get the courage to shoot the man she loved.  
"Oh," he said. "Now I can say… I was _provoked_!"  
He held up one of the same cables that had knocked Jack flat on his back. The end shot out powerful sparks at Chantho. She backed away, terrified.

************************************************************

The Doctor, Martha and Jack raced down a corridor, towards Professor Yana, when a crowd of Futurekind blocked their way. The Doctor slid to a halt and quickly turned and ran in the direction they had just come.

************************************************************

"Did you never think, all those years standing beside me, to ask about that watch? Never? Did you never once think, not _ever_, that you could set me free?!"  
"Chan, I'm sorry, thor. Chan, I'm so sorry! Thor."  
"You with your 'chan' and your 'thor,'" he sneered, "Driving me insane!"  
"Chan, Professor, please-"  
"THAT IS NOT MY NAME!" he screamed. "The 'Professor' was an invention! So perfect a disguise, that I forgot who I am."  
"Chan, then who are you? Thor."  
"I… am… the Master!"  
And he shoved the heavy wire into her stomach.

************************************************************

The Doctor sprinted down the corridor.  
"This way!" he yelled.

************************************************************

The Professor – the Master – knelt down in front of the Doctor's severed hand with a greedy face.

"Professor!" the Doctor shouted as they finally reached the door. He looked through the window, into the room. "Professor, let me in, let me in!"  
He pounded on the window. "Jack, get the door open, NOW!"  
Jack ripped open a panel while the Doctor tried his sonic screwdriver.  
"Professor! Professor, where are you?" the Doctor yelled.

The Professor didn't answer to the Doctor's desperate screams. Instead, he walked to a computer and ejected a disk from the computer.

"Chantho! Chantho, are you there?! Please! I need to explain! Please, whatever you do, don't open the watch!"

"Utopia," the Professor scoffed.

"They're coming!" Martha screamed.  
"PROFESSOR!" the Doctor yelled again. "Open the door, please!"

The Professor bent down and began dragging the cable that had fed the rocket, out of the TARDIS, deaf to the Doctor's pleas.  
Chantho regained consciousness, and moved her hand to the little gun that lay where she had dropped it.

"I'm begging you Professor, please listen to me!" the Doctor tried. "Just open the door, please!"

Chantho reached the gun, held it high and fired.  
The Professor let out an agonized cry, just as the door opened for the Doctor.

The Doctor saw the Professor staggered, and ran to help him. The Professor looked at him, stumbled back into the TARDIS and dead locked the door.  
The Doctor pulled his key and tried in vain to the open the door. When his key failed, he pulled his sonic screwdriver out and tried to unlock it.

The Professor stumbled around the control panel of the TARDIS and pressed a few switches. "And locked," he said triumphantly.

"Let me in," the Doctor despaired. "LET ME IN!"  
He backed away from the TARDIS.  
"She's dead," Martha told him from beside Chantho's prone body.  
"I broke the lock, gimme a hand!" Jack told Martha.  
"I'm begging you, everything's changed! It's only the two of us; we're the only ones left!" He had felt _years _of pain and isolation. He was the ultimate face of loneliness, and now he new that another Timelord existed, he was desperate not to be alone.  
Martha and Jack struggled against the door, determined not to let the Futurekind in.  
"JUST LET ME IN!" screamed the Doctor.

"Killed by an insect!" the Professor grumbled. "A girl! How inappropriate. Still, if the Doctor can be young and strong, so can I…" He stood up straight. "The Master, reborn!"  
He threw his head back and opened his arms wide. A light from the inside of his very being, shone through his skin.  
His eyes rolled up into his head…  
He let out a scream of pain as his body regenerated.

The Doctor heard the screams from inside his TARDIS, and saw the light shining through the small window. He backed further away, breathing heavily.  
Martha screamed as the Futurekind reached the door and tried to get through.  
"Doctor!" Jack shouted, "You better think of something!"  
But the Doctor couldn't hear Jack. His only thoughts were on the Master.

Lying on the floor of the TARDIS, the Master woke up. The first thing he saw, was the Doctor's hand. He ran in circles around the engines, laughing in maniacal triumph.  
He pressed an intercom button. "Now then, Doctor! Ooh, new voice. Hello… hello," he tried. "Anyway, why don't we stop and have a nice little chat, while I tell you all my plans and you can work out a way to stop me – I _don't _think!"  
"Hold on," said Martha, "I know that voice!"  
"I'm asking, really properly, just stop! Just think!" the Doctor pleaded.  
"Use my name."  
"…Master. I'm sorry…"  
"Tough!" he thundered. He cranked a wheel, telling the TARDIS which year to go back to.  
The Doctor held up his screwdriver and pressed a button, locking the engines of the TARDIS. Inside, the engines sparked and set a small fire.  
"Oh, NO, you don't!" the Master growled. He pressed the launch button with an air of finality. "End of the universe! Have fun! Bye, bye."  
"DOCTOR, STOP HIM!" Martha screamed. The Doctor merely lowered his screwdriver and watched, as the TARDIS' engines started up. Right in front of his eyes, his TARDIS faded away with the only other Timelord in existence.


End file.
